Italy’s militarized police carried out a major operation across the country this Wednesday, involving 500 officers, which ended with the arrest of 61 members of the ‘Ndrangheta, the powerful mafia of Calabria, in southern Italy.
Among the 167 people under investigation as a result of the operation is Andrea Niglia, former president of the province of Vibo and former mayor of Briatico, in Calabria, for alleged fraud aggravated by the Mafia method.
Hundreds of ‘Ndrangheta members and associates, some of whom were targeted in this operation dubbed “Maestrale-Carthage”, are already defendants in an ongoing “mega-trial”.
Last week, European police launched a major operation against the ‘Ndrangheta, arresting 132 people across the continent, including in Portugal, but also Brazil and Panama, on suspicion of drug and arms trafficking, money laundering and tax fraud .
The investigations of the Italian authorities succeeded in creating “the map of the geography” of the ‘Ndrangheta in the municipalities of Mileto, Filandari, Zungri, Briatico and Cessaniti, with the reconstruction of the roles, tasks and dynamics of the leaders, promoters , organizers and participants of the mafia associations, described the Italian media.
In the same way, the main exponents of the ‘Ndrangheta families in the province of Vibo Valentia were finally arrested in the major operation that began Wednesday morning across Italy and included arrests in the regions of Calabria, Lazio, Lombardy, Piemonte and Veneto.
These clans stood out, they add, for their “strong economic and business vocation and for their ability to form fluid relationships with ‘white-collar’ workers, politicians and government officials.”
According to prosecutors, the various crimes of the ‘Ndrangheta clans’ include not only drug trafficking and possession of weapons, but also vote buying, interference in public procurement, fraud related to migrant centers or extortion of funds from tourism companies.
According to the Public Prosecution Service of Catanzaro, Mafia members targeted in the operation announced this Wednesday managed to infiltrate the public health system in the city of Vibo Valentia to gain management of food contracts for hospitals.
One of the frauds concerns the public management of the reception of migrants, with the presentation by the ‘Ndrangheta of invoices for non-existent services.
In another example, within a municipal government, an official “adjusted” the result of a public office contest to allow for the hiring of a director close to the mafia.
Even the producers of the famous Tropea red onions, highly prized in Italy, have fallen victim to extortion, as have the tourist companies operating along the coast of Calabria.
The ‘Ndrangheta operate in more than 40 countries in total and their significant influence on Calabria’s economy has made them extremely difficult to eradicate, mainly due to the wealth they have accumulated through their criminal activities.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Wednesday praised the operation against “a criminal organization with ramifications throughout the national territory”.
Piantedosi also expressed his satisfaction with another operation also carried out in Calabria against a transnational organization dedicated to human trafficking, in which 39 arrest warrants were issued.
Source: DN
